Free Web NovelI still couldn’t tell what Seo Jaehun was thinking, but this was the end for him.
There were too many witnesses, too much evidence. No matter who he was, he couldn’t slip out of this one.
I looked straight at him.
“You gave up on everything?”
At my question, Seo Jaehun’s lips curled even higher. He exhaled smoke and replied,
“Soon, Ilseong Group will slip from my hands to yours. I’ll just be some rich guy holding a few shares—nothing more. Sure, I won’t starve, but you know what that means. No matter how much money I have, without the shield of Ilseong Group, it’s meaningless. And then it hit me—would you really let me live?”
“So what? You came here planning to die?”
Seo Jaehun drew a deep drag from his cigarette.
In an instant, the cigarette burned down to the filter. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it underfoot.
“Die? Why the hell would I die? I’m not crazy.”
After causing this much chaos, he still sounded sure of himself.
Ignoring my incredulous look, he lightly tapped Lee Seokmin’s shoulder and continued,
“Mind if I ask something? What did you promise him to make him cross over to your side? Come on, tell me.”
At his tap, Lee Seokmin flinched noticeably.
Looked like he’d been through hell downstairs. I sighed softly.
“That’s what you want to ask right now?”
“Of course. Director Lee was damn good at his job. Whatever my father said, he got it done. I wanted to keep him close too—but then he ran off to you?”
Seo Jaehun’s gaze on Lee Seokmin turned icy.
“He’s the only one who truly cared about Ilseong Group. That’s why I brought him in—to make real use of him. A man like him deserves to leave a mark bigger than living as Seo Yonggeon’s shadow. So I promised to keep the Ilseong name alive for him.”
“I see.”
Seo Jaehun nodded. That tone made it clear he hadn’t really asked out of curiosity.
“Now it’s my turn. What trick did you pull to drag me all the way here?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The moment I finished speaking, static crackled through Manager Ma’s radio.
He pulled it out and asked,
“What’s going on?”
— The police SWAT team is here.
It was the voice of a Black Secret operative guarding the entrance.
Manager Ma frowned.
“SWAT? Are you sure?”
— Yes, sir. Confirmed. They’re with the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency. Fully armed, about to advance.
Manager Ma looked toward me. After a short pause, I gave the order.
“Don’t make this messy. Have them open the way.”
“Yes, sir.”
There were only a few men guarding the gate.
Any resistance would only get people killed on our side.
Manager Ma spoke into the radio.
“Do not resist. Let them through.”
— Understood.
Once the line went dead, I smiled at Seo Jaehun.
So that was his plan.
“So this was it. You brought me here to get me arrested?”
He didn’t deny it.
“No matter how clever you are, you can’t talk your way out of being caught red-handed. The SWAT team commander coming here—he’s one of ours. I had him come personally.”
So he hadn’t planned to die. He planned to kill me and dump the whole thing on me.
“Unbelievable.”
I let out a tired sigh and ran a hand down my face.
Then I dropped the faint smile I’d been wearing.
“This is your big plan? This is what you meant by being prepared?”
“You’ll die here. Shot while resisting arrest. Even if you kill the police, you’re finished either way. Checkmate.”
“So the SWAT commander’s one of Ilseong’s scholarship boys, huh.”
“Ilseong scholars are everywhere—and nowhere. He’s just one of the names people don’t know.”
He wasn’t wrong. Even I didn’t know them all.
For decades, Ilseong Group had built a vast web of “scholarships.” I’d only managed to uncover those in the prosecution, the courts, and politics—enough to cut ties or force resignations.
But clearly, some remained. Persistent bastards.
“A SWAT team, huh······.”
If they broke in now, things would end just as he said.
But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I gave an order to Manager Ma.
“They’ve probably already passed the entrance, but don’t let anyone approach the lodge itself. No preemptive fire. If they attack, respond accordingly.”
“Understood.”
Manager Ma gestured to several team leaders.
Four men ran over.
“The SWAT team is moving in. Don’t let anyone enter the lodge. Absolutely no first strike. But if they fire, respond.”
“Only respond?”
At the team leader’s question, Manager Ma nodded.
“You can handle it?”
“Yes. We can.”
All four men answered at once. Manager Ma nodded and added,
“Only Team One stays here. Everyone else deploy.”
“Understood.”
The others hurried off. Black Secret operatives began moving rapidly.
“Bring Seo Jaehun in alive. I want him standing in front of me.”
At my order, the team leader signaled his men.
Guns raised, they began closing in on Seo Jaehun.
That’s when the man behind him moved.
He pressed his gun to Lee Seokmin’s temple and shouted,
“Don’t move! Take one step and he dies!”
I raised my hand, signaling the agents to halt.
When I glared at Seo Jaehun, he just shrugged. Then he ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) gestured toward the gunman.
“First time meeting him? This is Manager Han Jiho. He follows my orders to the letter. One word from me and Director Lee’s dead. So let’s just talk until the SWAT team arrives.”
It would take about ten minutes for them to reach us from the mountain entrance.
So he wanted to stall.
I looked at Lee Seokmin.
“Hm······.”
Should I risk it and strike anyway, or wait?
When I glanced at him again, his eyes flickered. His face was calm, but his hands were trembling faintly.
If I let him die here, I’d look like the villain.
I sighed and motioned for my men to step back.
“So. Anything else you want to talk about?”
“Plenty. What the hell are you? How does someone rise so fast—never once making a mistake, amassing fortune after fortune, manipulating Korea’s biggest conglomerates? It doesn’t make sense. No one, no matter how gifted, climbs that high without slipping up once.”
“Guess I’ve been lucky.”
“Luck? You call that luck?”
I lifted a shoulder.
Even if I told him this was my second life, he’d never believe it—and I couldn’t tell him anyway.
How could I explain a miracle like this?
“There’s a difference. People like Director Lee saw the foreign exchange crisis coming and warned you and Chairman Seo. You ignored them. I discussed countermeasures with Han Gyeongyeong instead. That’s all.”
Seo Jaehun snorted.
“So you’re saying you don’t want to talk.”
“You never listened even to your subordinates. That’s why you fell behind. Arrogance killed you, not me.”
As I spoke calmly, his face grew colder and colder.
“When people under you speak, you should at least pretend to listen. But you always believed only you were right and bulldozed ahead. That’s what destroyed you. You know Director Lee’s talent better than anyone. Ilseong’s secretariat is full of the best minds in Korea. You just didn’t use them.”
Calling it “luck” wasn’t entirely wrong.
Without the Asian financial crisis and the IT bubble, I wouldn’t have come this far.
Plenty had warned about it, but the government and chaebols turned a blind eye.
When the crisis finally struck, it crippled the major conglomerates—and I bought their shares in dollars.
The chairmen who hadn’t prepared had no choice but to borrow money from my grandfather. free𝑤ebnovel.com
They knew it would shackle them—but did it anyway.
“So you’re saying Ilseong fell because I didn’t listen to my subordinates?”
Seo Jaehun’s voice dripped with contempt. I corrected him gently.
“You’d still have been devoured by me, but you could’ve delayed it.”
My plan had always been to enter every field Ilseong touched and strangle them from within.
It would’ve taken longer, sure—but even without the crisis, the ending would’ve been the same.
“You really think all this—this destruction—makes sense just because of revenge? We’re talking about Ilseong Group! The backbone of Korea’s economy!”
“‘Just’ revenge? Did you say just?”
In my past life, I hadn’t known why my parents died—or why I had to.
“Watch your mouth. When I first learned the truth, I wanted to kill Chairman Seo Yonggeon on the spot. But I couldn’t. The shield of Ilseong protected him. That’s why I swore to take Ilseong for myself. And you call that just revenge?”
I glared at him, my voice rough with fury.
“You don’t know what it was like after they died—how hard I had to live. If you did, you’d never dare say that.”
Seo Jaehun frowned, still not understanding.
“I can’t wrap my head around it.”
“I don’t need you to. Don’t even try. And don’t ever bring up my parents again. Every time you do, it makes me want to kill you right here.”
Then, faint at first, sirens wailed in the distance.
Seo Jaehun slipped another cigarette between his lips.
“Right. You won’t have to hear it anymore. Once you’re gone, who’ll even know what happened?”
He flicked open a Zippo, lighting up with a bitter grin.
Noise erupted at the mountain entrance.
I tore my gaze from him and turned toward the commotion.
From buses at the foot of the lodge, fully armed SWAT officers poured out.
They aimed their rifles at the Black Secret operatives blocking the gate.
From the SUV in front of the buses, a man stepped out and strode toward them.
“I’m Ahn Hyunsu, commander of the Incheon Police SWAT.”
“Black Secret Team One Leader Kim Daesung. This is private property. Turn back.”
One of my team leaders stepped forward.
Ahn Hyunsu’s expression twisted when he recognized their uniforms.
“Unbelievable. Gunfire in the middle of Korea—and you’re claiming private property? What does Black Secret have to do with this place?”
“I don’t know what you mean. We were ordered to guard this area, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Black Secret operatives hadn’t drawn their weapons yet.
“Fine. If there’s no problem, we’ll just take a quick look inside and leave. Move.”
“Can’t do that. Do you have a warrant?”
Kim Daesung asked, and Ahn Hyunsu frowned.
“SWAT doesn’t need a warrant to neutralize terrorists.”
“Terrorists? We’re a state-licensed security firm. We’re being paid to guard this place.”
Kim Daesung held his ground. Ahn Hyunsu’s tone dropped, warning clear.
“I’m asking nicely. Step aside. If you don’t, you’ll be the first I arrest—and if you resist, you’ll end up full of holes.”
Kim Daesung looked past him, at the armed officers, and said evenly,
“Then we’ll have no choice but to respond in kind.”
Ahn Hyunsu raised his hand, and his men flipped off their safeties.
“This is your last warning. Move.”
Kim Daesung neither answered nor stepped aside.
Ahn Hyunsu’s lips parted to say something when a loud noise interrupted.
Both turned toward the sound.
Hearing it, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.
“Looks like they’re here.”
A military truck rolled up past the buses to the lodge entrance.
Two men stepped down—one in uniform, the other in a suit.
